An Introduction to Identifying Common Materials in Antiques
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Common Materials in Antiques * Cycleback.com An Introduction to Identifying Common Materials in Antiques by David Cycleback www.cycleback.com uranium glass statue, made from radioactive uranium salts 1 Common Materials in Antiques * Cycleback.com CONTENTS: 1: Introduction 2: Tools and Methods 3: Paper 4: Ceramics 5: Plastics 6) Fine Art Paint 7) Identifying Reproductions of Paintings 8) Glass 9) Black Light and Fine Art Glass 10) Non-precious Metals 11) Precious Metals 12) Wood 13) Stone 14) Gems 15) Cloth 16) Fur 17) Leather 18) Miscellaneous 2 Common Materials in Antiques * Cycleback.com Chapter 1: Introduction Materials (ceramics, wood, metal, fur, plastic, paper, etc) is a massive, ongoing area of study and research. There have been volumes of literature written just on diamonds, a university professor may spend his career studying paper and a New York art gallery may sell artworks made only of glass. For the collector and seller, the use in being able to identify and date materials in art, memorabilia and collectibles should be obvious. A '1660s toy boat' can't be made out of 1920s plastic. An auctioned '1800 map' has to be made from the kind of paper used in the time period. A trinket made of gold will be worth more than one made from brass. Many fakes, forgeries and genuine items are in part identified by identifying the material. Beyond authentication and fake detection, many people are simply interested in knowing what an item is made out of. Whether an old paperweight on a co-worker's desk is made out of cranberry glass or lucite, that's nice to know. Whether the painting on the wall is oil paint or encaustic, that an interesting fact to learn. It's like enjoying identifying birds at the park. Identifying materials can be a hobby and enjoyment in and of itself. This guide is a brief introduction and beginner's guide to common materials found in antiques. As a primer it not intended to cover everything nor make the reader into the next museum curator or Sotheby's expert. It sticks to more commonly found materials and basic information. This guide is intended as a supplement and springboard to the reader's further education, which includes hands on examination, further reading and asking questions. Web links to further reading are included throughout. 3 Common Materials in Antiques * Cycleback.com Chapter 2: Tools and methods This chapter describes some of the tools and methods used in materials identification. Covered in this chapter are: magnifier black light (longwave ultraviolet light) Mohs hardness test hot needle test A magnifier or jeweler's loupe A good magnifier is always useful, from a jeweler's loupe to a Sherlock Holme's style magnifying glass to a handheld microscope. 10x-20x power is useful enough. I'm not picky about type or sales price. Whatever works for you is fine. Magnifiers are inexpensive so you can own multiple if you want. Black light (longwave ultraviolet light) A blacklight is an inexpensive and easy to use scientific tool that is useful in many areas of collecting. Longwave ultraviolet light, commonly known as black light, is a range of light invisible to human eyes. While it cannot be seen, UV light makes some materials fluoresce, or glow in the dark. This florescence ranges in color and brightness, and helps scientists and hobbyists identify and study material. Black lights are inexpensive and can be bought at eBay, amazon.com and similar. They come in many styles and powers. This includes screw in bulbs and large and small flashlights. I own a small flashlight style and a screw in bulb. Both were inexpensive and serve different purposes. The bulb screws into a standard light socket and the flashlight can carried around in my pocket. As long 4 Common Materials in Antiques * Cycleback.com as the light gives off black light, the style is up to you. The above little flashlight is good for authenticating art, currency and such. They take batteries and can be carried around most anywhere. This is the most popular style for collectors. The above pocket sized LED and other high powered black lights are good for rock hunting and general inspection, and are also good for examining art, collectibles and currency. It uses batteries, so you can take it anywhere. Screw in black light light bulbs as shown here are especially good for art and crafts displays such as posters, paintings and clothes. This type of light can also work well for inspecting art, but is not as portable as the earlier shown flashlights. As you can see, they look like a regular screw in visible light fluorescent light bulb except the bulb is black not white . Be careful when purchasing screw in black lights, as many are not ultraviolet. Make sure it specifically mentions that it is UV or makes things glow in the dark. Many incandescent 'black light' bulbs are not ultraviolet. The non-UV incandescent lightbulbs are cheap, so if you pick the wrong one you 5 Common Materials in Antiques * Cycleback.com won't be throwing away lots of money. How to use your blacklight Once it's plugged in or the batteries popped in, most blacklights are as easy to use as normal flashlights. The blacklight only works in the dark, the darker the better. They can work outside at night and inside in a dark room. You should stay in the dark for at least a couple of minutes so your eyes get adjusted to the dark. After that, shine the blacklight around and you should find things that some things fluoresce, meaning they glow the in dark. Most black lights emit a small amount of visible light so that you know it's on. When you are later examining specific objects-- like a photo card or dollar bill-- it's best to examine a material against something that does not fluoresce. If the background gives off light it may effect the results. Safety of blacklight You'll be happy to know that UVA or blacklight is the safest type of the ultraviolet light. The light you will use is just longer in frequency than visible light. In fact, regular sunlight contains UVA light, so you're exposed to it on a daily basis. It is UVC, or shortwave, that is more dangerous and extra care is to be taken. While blacklight is not of great danger, reasonable care should still be taken. The key with blacklight is to not stare directly at the light source, just as you shouldn't stare directly at the sun or a regular light bulb. And, as with sunlight, don't overdo exposure. Don't try and suntan with your black light. Test your blacklight around the house In the dark, go around your home or office and see which things fluoresce and which do not. Common around the house things that fluoresce include: White paper Some cloth, including parts of shirts, hats. Laundry detergent, eyeglasses Some glass and plastics Some things will fluoresce so brightly you can almost read by it! 6 Common Materials in Antiques * Cycleback.com Mohs scale of hardness The Mohs scale of hardness is used to identify the relative hardness of a substance, from copper to glass to alabaster. This is important in identifying metal, gems, minerals and other substances. The scale is based on the ability of a harder substance to scratch a less hard material. Diamond is able to scratch steel, steel is able to scratch wood, wood is able to scratch chalk. In the Mohs scale, materials are assigned a level of hardness 1 through 10, with one being the softest material (talc) and 10 being the hardest (diamond). If a material has a Mohs hardness of 5, that would means it would scratch a material with a hardness of 3. If an as advertised as diamond (supposed to have a hardness 10) is scratched by steel (hardness 5), then it clearly is a fake. You can buy inexpensive Mohs testing kits on eBay and at amazon. The kits simply contain 9 different numerically labelled minerals each with a Mohs hardness of 1 through 9. I recommend getting one. Easy to use. Standard Mohs testing kit, containing materials of different Mohs 1-9 in a box. Each material is clearly labelled 1-9. The kit may contains other common materials, such as glass, a penny and a nail. You can also use many around the house items for quick reference, including glass, nails and pennies. The following is a 1 through 10 list of different substances. 7 Common Materials in Antiques * Cycleback.com 1: (softest): talcum, chalk 1.5: tin, lead, graphite 2: Gypsum, plater of paris 2.5-3: human fingernail, magnesium, gold, silver, aluminum, zinc, Jet (lignite) 3: calcite, US penny, copper, arsenic, antimony, thorium, dentin 4: fluorite, iron, nickel, iron nail5: Apatite, tooth enamel, obsidian (volcanic glass) 5.5-6.5: Glass 6: Orthoclase feldspar, titanium 7: Quartz, steel file, ceramic tile 7.5-9: emerald, hardened steel, tungsten, garnet 8: Topaz, cubic zirconium 9: Corundum, ruby 10 (hardest in nature) Diamond. (There is a diamond of Mohs 11, but this rare material is commercially made for industrial purposes only.) Hot pin test An often used test in material identification is the hot needle or hot pin test. This involves heating a bent needle and pressing it into the material. How easy it enters and the smell given off can help identify materials. This is a bit of a controversial test as it makes a little hole or other mark.